The galaxy near Espearia died quietly.
No screams reached the void. No alarms. No defensive fleets had time to mobilize. One moment, a swirl of luminous star clusters shone in endless spirals; the next, whole arms of the galaxy faded like embers losing their glow.
If someone had been close enough to witness it, they might have seen stars contracting into pale shells, as though inhaling their last breath before winking out.
Bones stood atop a floating pillar of obsidian drifting through the vacuum. His green flames pulsed in slow, rhythmic waves—each rise of light coinciding with another star's collapse. His skeletal face glowed, faint green runes crawling along his cheekbones as though alive.
Behind him floated hundreds of silhouettes—Dark Buddies—each a twisted, corrupted mockery of the Buddies logo. The Dark Buddies moved silently, spreading across the galaxy like spilled ink in water. Wherever they passed, systems dimmed.
Bones didn't speak often, but when he did, the void trembled.
He turned his skull slightly. A spark—golden, distant, infinitesimal—had brushed against him. The faintest ripple of creation energy touched what remained of the dying galaxy.
A low chuckle crackled through the flames in his ribcage.
"So," he murmured, voice a whisper of cracking stone, "the hatchling awakens."
His flames surged brighter, emerald fire licking across the bones of his forearms.
"You burn a little now, Golden One. A flicker. A spark. But I…"
He lifted his hand.
A sun imploded in the distance, collapsing into a dark sphere.
"…I am an ending without depth."
He clenched his fist. The remaining light of the star extinguished.
Dark Buddies scattered, sweeping through the remnants of the galaxy, leaving nothing but drifting husks of matter powered by the sickly light of Bones' flames.
Bones tilted his skull back, gazing toward a direction not defined by coordinates but by instinct. Creation had stirred, and creation was loud.
"Stretch your wings, little dawn," he whispered. "Let me hear you roar."
Green fire throbbed, spreading outward in a silent wave.
"When you shine brightest… I will smother you."
The void swallowed his laughter as the galaxy dissolved into darkness. The last fragments of light flickered in mournful silence before being swallowed by his flames.
And then Bones vanished.
Stars blurred as the G.A.M.B.I.T. drifted through a calm patch of space, its colossal silhouette dominating the void. The ship hummed with purpose, an entire military complex floating between the worlds. Its hangars glowed with blue energy, and patrol craft zipped around the outer hull like coordinated insects.
Inside the cadet block, Jimmy was pacing.
Pacing was not unusual for him. He had paced for approximately 3,500 of his 6,000 years of administrative existence. But this time, even for Jimmy, he was frantic.
He held a clipboard in one hand, a waffle in the other, and what appeared to be a second clipboard tucked inside his shirt like a safety blanket. Bumble followed behind him on clacking metal feet, occasionally sparking and twitching with tiny digital hiccups.
Julian leaned against a nearby bulkhead, gently fanning Jimmy with a data slate. "You've been pacing for twenty minutes. At this rate, you may achieve enlightenment."
Jimmy whirled. "I DO NOT WANT ENLIGHTENMENT, JULIAN! I WANT A VACATION!"
Julian blinked. "You… are on vacation."
"No I'm not!" Jimmy jabbed the waffle at him like an accusing wand. "I'm watching intergalactic combat, refereeing dragonborn freakouts, managing paperwork—six millennia of paperwork—and trying not to panic over the fact that I'm supposed to keep the universe from folding into a tiny screaming noodle!"
Julian tapped his chin. "That is an extremely specific metaphor."
"It happened once!"
Danny watched from the lounge entrance with wide, cautious eyes. Shadeclaw perched in a shadowy corner like a smug gargoyle. Jade leaned against the kitchen console, munching on an apple he absolutely did not have permission to take. Mira observed quietly, clutching her notebook. Jake and Swift sat on the couch, equally concerned.
The doors to the corridor opened with a sharp hiss. Admiral Yalicon stepped in, followed by three officers.
Her boots clicked sharply across the metallic floor. "Director Jameson Whiffle."
Jimmy froze mid-panic, arms raised in the air, waffle held aloft like a flag of surrender.
"Don't—don't call me that!" Jimmy yelped. "I'm incognito!"
"Director." Her gaze was calm, expression unreadable. "You have been away from Headquarters for three weeks."
"I WAS SUPERVISING!" Jimmy sputtered. "PROVIDING COMMENTARY! MAINTAINING MORALE! DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH MORAL SUPPORT IT TAKES TO WATCH A GOLDEN DRAGON DROP-KICK A WOLF KING?!"
Yalicon did not blink. "Headquarters requires your presence. Immediately."
Jimmy deflated with a pitiful squeak.
Danny blinked. "Wait… you're the head of the Buddies?"
Jimmy groaned, covering his face. "Yes, Danny. I'm the Head. For six thousand years. I signed the charter. I designed three uniform styles. I invented the cafeteria waffle dispenser. I wrote the handbook. I rewrote the handbook. I created Section Four-B of the handbook. I know every regulation number and subsection code in the universe!"
Jake stared, jaw open. "Dude. You're like… a god of paperwork."
Shadeclaw murmured, "An eldritch administrator."
Julian nodded solemnly. "He is, in fact, bureaucracy incarnate."
Jimmy threw his hands up. "I LIKE PAPERWORK! It's calming! It's soothing! It makes SENSE!"
Admiral Yalicon cleared her throat.
"And Bones has returned."
Silence.
It was as though the entire ship inhaled.
Danny stiffened. Shadeclaw's golden eyes narrowed. Swift dropped the towel he was folding. Jake's tail puffed out so violently it nearly whacked him in the face. Jade swore softly.
Mira paled.
Jimmy's waffle fell from his hand.
"That green-flaming, universe-burning, time-breaking skeletal MANIAC? No, no, no. Not again."
Yalicon stood straighter. "We need the Director at Headquarters. Bones' presence disrupts dimensional stability and interstellar infrastructure. We cannot risk losing worlds."
Jimmy sighed with the weariness of a god who had seen too many centuries.
"Fine. I'll go. But I'm taking Bumble. I need emotional support."
Bumble beeped, sparks dancing off his chest plating.
Julian placed a delicate hand on Jimmy's shoulder. "Be strong, my brave commander."
Jimmy clasped his hand dramatically. "You too, my beautiful disaster."
Julian pretended to faint.
The shuttle launch bay opened, and technicians prepared the sleek diplomatic carrier that would take Jimmy and Bumble back to Headquarters.
Before boarding, Jimmy looked at the cadets—Danny, Swift, Jake, Shadeclaw, Jade, Mira. They watched him with a mixture of respect, awe, and concern.
Jimmy cleared his throat, straightened his coat, and tried to look like the ancient cosmic bureaucrat he truly was.
"Listen," he said softly. "All of you. Training starts soon. It's… not easy. Buddies training never is. But you're ready. Just… please don't break the multiverse while I'm gone."
Danny nodded earnestly. "We won't."
"TRY not to," Jimmy corrected. "It's more realistic."
Bumble waddled up and pat Danny's shin affectionately.
Jimmy stepped aboard the shuttle.
The doors closed.
The shuttle fired its engines and disappeared into the starlight.
Far from the G.A.M.B.I.T., another ship broke the atmosphere of the tournament planet.
The Wolf King's war barge gleamed with molten blue sigils. Wolf banners flowed along its hull, fluttering despite the lack of wind. Within the King's private chamber, the Queen tended gently to her husband's fur, brushing out soot and fixing his crown.
"You fought well," she murmured.
"I lost," the King rumbled.
"You stood," she countered. "Few could."
The King chuckled, low and rough. "He is a force I have never faced."
The Queen touched her forehead to his. "You will face him again. And next time, we may have an empire behind us."
He kissed her deeply, fiercely, reverently.
"We return home," she whispered.
"Let us make it official," he answered.
Their vessel launched into hyperspace in a blaze of wolf-clan fire.
Danny stood at the observation deck window as the two ships vanished—Jimmy's shuttle becoming a silver dot, the Wolf King's war barge streaking into distant warp.
The stars looked different now. Sharper. Larger. Heavy with meaning.
Swift joined him, arms folded. Shadeclaw leaned against the wall nearby, almost blending into it. Jade lounged on a nearby couch. Mira clutched her notebook nervously. Jake placed his forehead against the glass, tail wagging with a confused mixture of excitement and fear.
"Jimmy looked scared," Jake said.
"He wasn't scared," Swift corrected. "He was stressed."
Shadeclaw smirked. "Same thing."
Danny didn't speak. His mind was elsewhere—far, far away. Something flickered on the edge of his senses. Something green. Something ancient. Something hungry.
He didn't understand it. Not fully. But he could feel it the way a storm can feel the wind gathering miles away.
Mira's voice pulled him back. "Do you… feel that too?"
Danny nodded. "Something's wrong out there."
Shadeclaw's ears twitched. "Predators sense predators."
A metallic chime rang through the ship, sharp and commanding.
"CADETS," a voice boomed, deep and unamused. "REPORT TO ORIENTATION AT SHIP DAWN. FAILURE TO ARRIVE WILL RESULT IN… CONSEQUENCES."
Jake whimpered. Jade snorted. Mira straightened. Swift exhaled slowly. Shadeclaw grinned like someone had just invited him to hunt. Danny took a deep breath, bracing himself.
Their next journey was beginning.
And somewhere, in the remains of a dead galaxy, Bones felt it too.
The skeletal god of destruction clutched a small spark—an echo of Danny's golden awakening. A memory of light.
He closed his fist and crushed it.
Green fire erupted.
"Creation rises…" Bones whispered.
The void trembled.
"…and destruction answers."
The stars dimmed.